JERUSALEM: U.S. ENVOY ANTHONY ZINNI HAS VISITED JERUSALEM'S YAD VASHEM HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DURING HIS MISSION TO THE MIDDLE EAST

Record ID: 647585

  • Title: JERUSALEM: U.S. ENVOY ANTHONY ZINNI HAS VISITED JERUSALEM'S YAD VASHEM HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DURING HIS MISSION TO THE MIDDLE EAST
  • Date: 29th November 2001
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (NOVEMBER 29, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV U.S. ENVOY ANTHONY ZINNI LAYING WREATH AT ETERNAL FLAME OF HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL 0.14 2. SV ZINN, HEAD BOWED, OVER THE WREATH 0.24 3. SLV OFFICIALS LEAVING ETERNAL FLAME 0.29 4. SV ZINNI WALKING IN MUSEUM OF YAD VASHEM HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL, LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS (2 SHOTS) 0.49 5. SV PRESS TAKING PICTURES OF ZINNI 0.51 6. SV OF ZINNI TOURING MEMORIAL AND LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE HOLOCAUST 1.13 7. CU SIGN TO MEMORIALS HALL OF REMEMBRANCE 1.19 8. SLV EXTERIOR OF HALL OF REMEMBRANCE 1.25 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 14th December 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVAE3PVMDZWDHYSUC7D50Z1C4A99
  • Story Text: U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni has visited Jerusalem's Yad
    Vashem Holocaust Memorial during his mission to the Middle
    East in attempt to get both sides to lay down their arms and
    start implementing an agreed ceasefire.



    The killing of a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip and a
    gun battle near Jerusalem late on Wednesday (November 28),
    underscored the uphill battle the United States faces trying
    to get Israel and the Palestinians to end 14 months of
    fighting.

    On the outskirts of Jerusalem, Palestinian gunmen in the
    West Bank town of Beit Jala shot at the Jewish settlement of
    Gilo on Wednesday night, drawing heavy return fire from
    Israeli forces.

    There were no reports of casualties in the battle, which
    raged for several hours.

    But it boded ill for U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's mission,
    already marred by a shooting in the Israeli city of Afula on
    Tuesday (November 27) by two Palestinian gunmen, one of them
    affiliated to President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

    Israel regards Gilo as a neighbourhood of Jerusalem, its
    self-declared capital. When Gilo has come under fire in the
    past, Israel has responded by sending forces into Beit Jala.

    U.S. officials said Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general,
    was starting his maiden Middle East peace mission by trying to
    familiarise himself with the situation on the ground.

    Analysts said it was unlikely Zinni would start serious
    negotiations until after U.S. President George W. Bush meets
    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House on
    Monday (December 3). Sharon leaves for the United States late
    on Thursday.

    The United States, keen to maintain Arab support for its
    anti-terror coalition, has heightened its involvement in
    efforts to end the Middle East conflict.

    Zinni said his mission was to get both sides to lay down
    their arms and start implementing a ceasefire plan brokered in
    June by Central Intelligence Agency chief George Tenet, and a
    broader peace plan drawn up by former U.S. Senator George
    Mitchell.

    Both the Tenet and Mitchell plans have failed to stem the
    bloodshed despite being accepted by both sides as a blueprint
    to ending clashes between the two countries.

    At least 726 Palestinians and 192 Israelis have been
    killed since the Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation
    erupted after a deadlock in peace negotiations.


    dw/awa

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